Tricks That Once Fooled Me
by FifteenFathomsCounting
Summary: Ariana Lupus is a typical 6th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She becomes entailed in the adventures of her best friends, The Marauders. Will she find out her friends secrets and become one of them properly? And will her heart prevail?
1. Chapter 1

Tricks That Once Fooled Me

The train station was crowded. There was barely any spare room on the platform and it seemed a miracle that no one had fallen onto the tracks. People were jostling their way forward, eager to board the enormous, scarlet steam engine. Smoke billowed from the black chimney, and drifted across the platform and caused a few people to cough and splutter as they inhaled the tiny fragments of coal. As the smoke travelled further down the platform, it rose into the air and marked a white trail across the sky.

Mothers wept over the prospect of their children leaving home for the first time. Some of the first years cried too. Most of them however, jumped and yelled for sheer joy. Only one did not.

The girl stood at the far edge of the platform, as close to the tracks as she dared. She wore dark clothes and looked about fifteen or sixteen. Her dark hair, black or possibly brown, trailed in delicate waves past her shoulders and her side fringe partially covered her bright, green eyes. As she stood further away from the other groups of students, it soon became clear that she was alone. The trains whistle blew and one by one, the students climbed aboard. The girl sighed, after scanning the crowd several times and turned around to lift her trunk into the carriage. It was gone.

A group of Slytherins stood in front of it, laughing meanly. One of them, a boy with fairly long platinum blonde hair, and clearly the leader, stepped forward and the boys fell silent.

"Ariana." He acknowledged, not bothering to disguise the venom in his voice.

"Lucius." She replied, a look of disgust upon her pale face, and her hand clenching instinctively around her wand. Her knuckles stood out. Far more than they should, as it looked like she was using every ounce of energy she could spare, working against the urge to spring at him and curse him within an inch of his life.

"Forgive me for intruding, my friend," He added, a tone of sickly sweet flattery edging into his words.

"What d'you want?" She sighed, not wanting to fight. Well, any more than she had to.

"We, and by we, I mean my friends and I, feel it is a terrible shame that you have been in Gryffindor all these years. We feel that you could be an…_asset… _to us. Helpful. We believe that a powerful witch such as yourself would be better off with us. Join Slytherin. Make the right choice." He said. Linking his words together smoothly and trying to flatter his way to get what he wanted. Her.

"Hmmm. Tricky choice. Leave _all _my friends and go and work for you Death Eater worshipping slime-balls? No thanks." She snapped sarcastically.

"Oh that's right. Crawl back to your _blood traitor_ pals, you filthy _mudblood_." He snarled. His dark side finally burst through his calm demeanour.

Losing her patience, Ariana pulled out her wand and crying

"Stupefy!" She blasted Lucius off his feet and over the back of her trunk. The force of the spell was enough to knock him out cold and as his 'friends' dragged him to safety by the arms, she called after them.

"Don't forget to remind him that he will never get away with that!"

As one of them turned around to acknowledge her warning, she shouted after them even louder and with so much venom in her voice that the first years trembled,

"This is war, Malfoy!"

Smiling slightly, she picked up her owl, Artemis, and carried him into her compartment, the one she and her friends used every year. Without question. As she returned for her trunk, a group of people surrounded her in a massive group hug.

"Guys!" She whined, giggling as someone picked her up, whirling her around in a large circle, almost taking out a couple of second year Ravenclaws.

"Get off her, Prongs!" A squeaky voiced boy called, evidently annoying the black-haired boy, as he appeared to ignore him.

"Nope" came the muffled reply after a moment of silence from him, after trying to trip over Ariana.

"We missed you." A sandy haired boy said after physically removing the hyperactive boy wearing glasses, which had now misted over, due to his breath condensing onto the cold lenses of his glasses. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her in a warm hug.

"See Prongs! That's how you greet a girl, and such a fragile one at that!" said the voice of an extremely attractive boy who'd just arrived on the scene.

"Not, I might add, by half throttling her!" He joked.

"Hey guys," Ariana smiled, as she recovered her breath from laughing uncontrollably at the disgruntled look on James' face after being pushed to the floor by Remus.

"Where's Lily?" She added.

"Prefecting." The boys mocked.

"So, shall we get on board?" She asked. The large group of her friends agreed and lifting their luggage onto the train, they all began to drill Ariana about her holiday.

She sighed. If only her mother would allow her to enjoy it.


	2. Chapter 2

Tricks That Once Fooled Me

As the group of friends clambered noisily aboard the carriage and entered their compartment, the wooden door banged slightly, as it was repeatedly moved from side to side.

Ariana sat down by the window, nervously avoiding their gaze as they laughed and joked about their summer holidays. The carriage jerked as the train slowly began to move forward, and first years hung out of the windows, waving goodbye to their parents and promising to send owls as soon as they got Sorted.

The window misted up fairly quickly, as the temperature outside gradually dropped further and further. The large group of parents were stood on the very edge of the platform, straining their eyes to see their beloved children hanging out of the windows of the train. Some were blowing on their hands, in a futile attempt to warm them up and their breath hung in frosty clouds in front of them, creating clouds of dragon's breath.

Remus had noticed Ariana's silence and once their companions had raised their voices in volume, discussing what their first prank of the year should be, he leant forward and asked her in a quiet voice if she was all right. _She should be asking him the same thing._

His normally pale skin looked almost green in the light; he looked very sickly. His forehead was sweaty and clammy and every so often he began to shiver. Ariana was about to advise him to go to the Hospital Wing as soon as they arrived when she realised he was like this a lot. He would be like this for a day or so and disappear for another day or so, then turn up as if nothing had happened. Pretty much every time this happened, he would turn up late to class and silently sit next to her. From her vantage point she could easily see he was covered in bruises and scratches. Due to their position in the register, they would always be sat next to each other so she could see it happened every single time he disappeared. Something strange was happening to Remus. If she knew them more then maybe she could be in on their secret. She barely knew the four guys who referred to themselves as The Marauders and this year it was going to change. She was going to make an attempt to become one of them. Properly. She wanted to belong. _To hell with her mother._

"Nothing." She smiled, making an effort to show Remus that everything was fine.

Glancing to the right of him, she noticed that Peter was watching her, a strange sort of gleam in his small, watery eyes. In a way, they always gave her the impression she was talking to a rat, whenever she graced him with a sentence or two. Which was very, very rarely. She didn't like Peter. Never had, probably never will. He was small, extremely annoying and had a high-pitched squeaky voice that made her want to use the Silencing Charm on him every second of the day.

"I'll tell you later, 'Kay?" She promised, making a vow to herself. Make Remus her best friend. Maybe she could help him, if she could just find out why he's always ill.

The train ride was long and arduous but became a lot less awkward once Lily came back from the Prefects' carriage. To Ariana, it felt as if a great weight had lifted off her chest now that she had someone she was very close to that she was able to talk to. Things got even better once Peter mentioned he wasn't feeling too great and waddled off to find a toilet. He didn't return.

A comfortable silence filled the compartment as Lily sat down next to Ariana.

"Ari?" She asked quietly, almost cautiously and as if she was trying to avoid asking her question.

"Yeah?" She answered, her head against the window and her eyes closed.

"How come you didn't write?" she asked "Again."

Ariana's eyes shot open and she blushed, hoping no one had noticed. She turned slowly to face Lily, who had an innocent look on her face, betrayed only by the faint hint of red below her ear. A sure sign of anger.

"Um," she thought, inventing quickly "Artemis couldn't fly for a couple of weeks. Then my mother needed to use him for her business work and other 'important' documents" She laughed nervously, hoping the fact that she'd used her sarcastic quotation marks would be enough to calm Lily down.

"Ariana Lupus!" _Uh-Oh. _She cringed inwardly, knowing that she'd upset her. "I've known you for what, Six years? And never once have you replied to my owls! I even invite you to stay over pretty much every holiday, but no, you just ignore me!"She stood up, breathing heavily and her face thunderous.

"Until you can be bothered to reply to my letters, I don't think we can be best friends anymore." She added, finally getting quiet and walking out of the compartment, robes flapping and her foul mood becoming obvious as she shouted some more at some innocent second years for laughing too loudly.

Ariana looked up, her face ashen. The three boys were frozen in their previous positions, Remus sitting straight up and looking as ill as before, if not worse. Pumpkin Pasties and Chocolate Frogs surrounded James, and his face was frozen in an expression of pure shock and amazement. Sirius was much the same.

"Wow." spoke James "That was…different." He rubbed his eyes and stretched, a massive pile of empty sweet wrappers slithering to the floor. He left them.

"I'm gonna change into my robes. Coming Padfoot?" He heaved himself off the squishy seats, which had by now, moulded themselves into the shape of his body.

"Yeah, might as well. Ari' looks like she's about to puke, an' I don't wanna be there when she does!" He joked, looking awkward about witnessing Lily's outburst.

As soon as they had left, Remus asked her what it had been about. Ari beat him to it.

"She said we can't be best friends anymore." She whispered.

"She thought of me as a best friend?"

"Of course!" Remus said, his voice soft. "We all do." He added quietly.

"Except Peter, but ignore him. Peter's an imbecile." He said, making her half-laugh.

"Now," He stated, clapping his hands together. "What was that argument about?"

"I-" He cut her off.

"I know that you haven't been replying to anyone's owls. You've done it to me too. And James. All I want to know is, why?" He sounded confused and almost hurt.

"My mother." She whispered, "She doesn't like the fact that I'm associating with Gryffindors. She won't let me. She says that she can't control my friends at school, but she'll sure as hell choose my friends at home." Remus drew in a breath, looking more than a bit confused.

"I thought that your mother was a Muggle, that's why you're a Half-Blood?"

She shook her head. "I'm Pureblood. I never knew my father, but I use his second name. I'd rather not use my mother's. She's a Death Eater. Or as good as; though I don't think she's been branded. Yet. " Remus recoiled, looking stunned.

"I am so sorry for lying. I just didn't want to be judged. Please forgive me." She whispered, feeling disgusted with herself for deceiving her friends.

"It's okay. Perhaps we should forget about this conversation, James and Sirius are coming back. But you have to explain to Lily later. She'll forgive you."

"Thanks Remus. You've been great." He smiled

"What are friends for, eh?"

_Everything._


	3. Chapter 3

Tricks That Once Fooled Me

'_You dropped a note and we changed keys,_

_You changed yourself and I changed me.  
_

_I really didn't see us singing through this,  
_

_then you screamed the bridge_

_And I cried the verse _

_And our chorus came out unrehearsed…'_

_Mayday Parade – If You Wanted A Song Written About You…_

Ari stood up and grabbing her bundle of robes, she almost ran down to the toilets to change. When out of school, she dressed like a bunch of Muggles she'd seen hanging around near her house. Their dress sense appealed to her, for some reason. Once in the toilets, she pulled off her hoody and T-shirt; replacing it with her school shirt and Gryffindor tie. Frustrated with the length and size of her knot, she redid it, until the knot was as big as her fist and the tie was only four stripes. She left her top button undone. The first change. The first step. The first difference_. Perhaps they could all be friends properly._

_Best friends_,she corrected herself, smiling at her reflection.

She took a look down at her trousers, black skinny jeans, held up around her naturally thin frame by a black and white chequered belt. The alternately placed black and white squares stuck out a few millimetres and tapered neatly into a point, rather like a miniature square based pyramid. She ran her finger along the little bumps and frowned when she discovered a tiny square that was wobbling and threatening to fall off. She took out her wand. It was willow, eleven inches and contained a strand of wolf hair. She didn't tell anyone about her strange wand, as it appeared that no one she had ever encountered, possessed a wand containing a core of wolf's hair. It intrigued her and yet she was still afraid of admitting about her unique wand.

She tapped her belt once and muttered,

"Reparo,"

She watched in amazement as the square reattached itself to her belt. She smiled in satisfaction and replaced her wand in the cloak she'd put on over her shirt. She slipped her feet out of her DC shoes and then paused and replaced them. _Breaking the rules has never been so much fun._

Before she left, she fumbled in her pocket to grasp the long thin shape of her favourite Muggle invention. _Eye-liner._

Bundling up the rest of her uniform, she grabbed her hoody and made her way back to her compartment. As she left the toilet, she glanced around for Peter, knowing that he had been in the toilets, feeling ill. Satisfied he was nowhere to be found, she quickly made her way back to the carriage.

For once in her lifetime, she felt like she was doing the right thing. She needn't be afraid of her mother's wrath any more. She felt good that she was changing the way she appeared.

The instantaneous effect it had on the boys was actually quite funny.

James sat there opening and closing his mouth, a lot like a goldfish. He pointed at her and gulped. He closed his mouth, took a deep breath and opened it again. It looked as if he was trying to say something but was too shocked to say it.

Remus looked up and as he acknowledged her 'new' look, his face split into a huge grin, he nodded and settled down, leaning against the back of his seat. It was visible from the doorway, that he had a mark of pink on his neck. He looks better already.

Sirius looked up from a ratty bit of parchment, and as he placed it in his pocket, Ariana could have sworn that he had tapped it with his wand and murmured something. He looked back down and then jerked his head up again. He whistled slowly, and sucked in air through his teeth.

"You're looking pretty nice Ari', I might have to add you to my list!" He grinned, a grin that many girls around the school would kill to have thrown in their direction. It was cheeky, and flirtatious. It was also a grin Ari had never encountered. Especially from Sirius. She frowned. She had changed her image so that she could be more like her friends, and actually live up to her title of being best friends with them. She didn't want to be just another girl. She wasn't interested in him like that. Plus, she didn't want to be used by the notorious ladies' man, Sirius Orion Black.

She scowled, and retorted with "I'm sorry, I don't date." She watched with glee as his facial expression reversed instantly from to surprise. "At least, I don't date obnoxious ass-holes such as your self, Mr Black." She permitted herself a brief smile as she returned to her seat and enjoyed watching the scene unfold.

James and Remus roared with laughter and clutched their stomachs, in a desperate attempt to draw in enough oxygen to breathe whilst they nearly wet themselves. Tears ran from their eyes and Remus wiped at his streaming eyes with the ragged cuff of his sweatshirt.

"That."

"Was,"

"Awesome."

The two of them panted, whilst trying to catch their breath.

"Ari'?" Remus said, after calming down again.

"Yes?" She smiled, cocking her head at him and raising an eyebrow as she tried not to set the two boys laughing fit off again.

"Have we ever told you we love you?" James finished, still wiping the tears off his cheeks.

"Uhh, not that I can recall no…" She replied, snorting with laughter at his stupid comment.

Silence.

All three looked at Sirius, who'd been sulking alone for a minute or two.

"I certainly don't love you." He said in a sarcastic voice.

Ariana, Remus and James looked at each other and burst out laughing. Again.

_It seems like they're getting on already._


	4. Chapter 4

Tricks That Once Fooled Me

_Dead arms clutch at my arm,_

_The smell of death fills the air,_

_Her fragrance,_

_Her carcass reanimates,_

_If you need me,_

_I'll be tying a rope to the tree,_

_Where our love used to be_

_Bring Me the Horizon - (I Used To Make Out With) Medusa _

The train slowly pulled up into the train station at Hogsmeade, a quaint little village just outside of Hogwarts. As they descended from their carriages, squinting in the sudden darkness that had enveloped them in an ominous cloud of black, Ariana thought about how pretty the station was in the daytime. The first time they had arrived at the train station, terrified and scared. The darkness and menacing outlook of the castle, dark and with a sinister looking shadow dancing over the tall trees; it had been enough to scare them witless. As she reminisced about her first day of school, she felt a sudden twinge of sympathy for the new students, gathered around the Assistant Gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid. He was a tall fellow, and rather wide about the stomach. He couldn't have been any younger than thirty years old but his long straggly beard had not a trace of grey weaved amongst the dark strands of hair. He towered over the first years and if it weren't for his warm, friendly voice, many of the new students would probably have dived back onto the train and demanded to return to Kings Cross. As it happened, all of them stared back up at his dark eyes with looks of utter terror, probably believing that he would eat them alive if they stuck even a toe out of line.

Ariana smiled and flicked her hair back over her shoulder and wriggling her toes inside her comfortable shoes; not a bit like the hard leather school shoes that pinched her toes terribly and gave her humongous blisters on her heel. She turned neatly on the spot and marched towards the horseless carriages. They had given her the creeps, the first year they'd used them, until Lily had informed her that it was, in fact, Thestrals who pulled them. The large, black, Skeletal horses, were only visible to people who had witnessed Death's cold blow, and once Ariana had discovered their existence, her initial fear of them vanished. As she ambled slowly towards them, she took her time to stop and stare at the dark sky, peppered with millions of tiny stars; she took in a deep breath of the night air and smiled again. _She was home._

As she neared the carriages, the usual battlefield of students trying to get the first carriages had already finished. There was only a handful left, and the students were stood in groups, waiting to board them. Remus, Sirius and James were stood, leaning against a tall beech tree; in Remus's case, was sat on the floor, nose buried in a book. When Ariana rounded the corner, Sirius whistled loudly and beckoned wildly.

" Hey! Ari! You gettin' a carriage wi' us?" He shouted, ignoring the withering look Remus was shooting him from the floor. Sirius's unnecessary shouting had obviously distracted him from his precious book. His sandy hair had flopped over his face once he turned away to focus on the book, in the dim light cast from the end of his wand.

She thought for a while.

"I can't. I have to apologise to Lily. And I have to explain." She muttered, making sure that only Remus could hear the last part. Casting her eyes to the floor, she contemplated how she was going to do it. First she had to find her. She was almost certain that she would still be waiting for a carriage, due to the fact that she was always one of the last people off the train.

She looked around the clearing, and deciding that she couldn't see anyone's face properly, she pulled out her wand and waving it, she mumbled

"Lumos Maximus."

A bright light emitted from the tip of her wand, and spread around the clearing like wildfire. James covered his eyes with his sleeve and Remus moved his book up so that it hid his face from the almost white light. Sirius just stood looking confused.

"And why exactly did you choose that exact moment to blind us for no apparent reason?" He called after her sarcastically as she moved away to search more thoroughly.

As she rounded another tree, she came to a halt. Motionless in absolute shock. Lily was stood with none other than Severus Snape. A complete and utter prat in her opinion, but as he was Lily's childhood friend, she refrained herself from speaking the truth about him in front of Lily. That was until, he had disgraced himself by calling Lily a Mudblood in front of everyone. He'd been in the Hospital Wing for a week after recovering from the four hexes that had been shot his way instantly after saying it. He'd regretted it a lot.

Marching forward, she gripped her wand and sidled up to Lily, trying her hardest to ignore Snape and his two fellow Slytherin's, Mulciber and Avery. She attempted to smile brightly at Lily, as if nothing had happened, but it looked more like a pained grimace.

"Yes?" snarled Lily, her voice smothered with hatred.

"I came to apologise." She said. Her smile falling. "A-and," she swallowed. "T-to explain."

"I don't think you understood what Lily said." Snape whispered menacingly as he stepped forward into the light.

"You don't even understand what this is about, Snivellus." She growled.

"You know what Ari'?" Lily shouted. "I give up."

"Huh?" She answered, looking confused.

"You just said you wanted to 'apologise' but you start arguing with my friend instead!" Lily spat, looking venomous. "I understand that you don't like each other, but you don't need to argue _all_ the time!"

"B-but." Ariana stuttered. "I-"

"Save it. I don't care anymore." Lily snapped, before turning away and striking up a conversation with Snape.

Ariana stood open mouthed, watching her friend. She closed her mouth and turned around, not wanting to watch any longer. It hurt too much. Forcing her legs to move. Left, right. Left, right. She stumbled back to the boys, tears brimming in her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

Tricks That Once Fooled Me

_Break Out! Break Out!_

_As we escape through the window,_

_Head for the car,_

_And never look back, _

_Singing, Singing_

_Break Out! Break Out!_

_Our time is coming, _

_We've got these big city dreams…_

_All Time Low - Break Out! Break Out!_

As Ariana wandered across the clearing back to three boys, a slight wind whistled through the treetops and shadows were distorted in the weak light shining through the leaves. She joined the remaining Marauders as they sat in silence, each absorbed in his own thoughts.

One sat upon a large tree root, resting his head upon the trunk and his hair still stuck up at the back, where he had unconsciously ruffled it. His mouth curved up in a smile and his eyes twinkled as he looked up at the sky and admired the view. His eyes glasses misted up as his warm breath hit the cool air and with a sigh, he removed them and polished them upon the sleeve of his robe.

Another stood motionless, leaning with his back against the trunk and staring away over the treetops as his mouth moved slightly, silently forming unknown words. His eyes were glazed over and he seemed miles away, as his gaze fixated upon the moon. His eyes gleamed and a look of mischievousness glanced across his face and then vanished as soon as it had appeared, a look of stony silence replacing it.

Remus was sat on the floor, head buried in his book and a look of eagerness and interest on his face. His sandy blonde hair was flopping down over his face once again, and though he still looked sickly, there was a gleam in his green eyes that hadn't been there on the train.

Ariana sat silently upon a blackened tree stump to the left of Remus. She stared into the distance, thinking about her argument with Lily and about how quickly she'd run back to Snivellus. A feeling of nausea swept over her and she had to force herself not to move from her spot.

The clearing they were stood in had not been there long. An argument between two groups of disagreeing students had meant that many of the trees in the surrounding area had been destroyed. In fact, the stump that Ariana was sat on was the only remaining evidence there had ever been a fight there. It had lain there as the area around it was cleared up and tree after tree was removed from the ground. Fallen branches were placed in piles, to release their nutrients back into the soil and continue to provide for the remaining plant life, yet the stump was left. Perhaps it had been left as a reminder to the pupils that they had destroyed something that would never be able to regrow, or perhaps it was just overlooked. But year after year, it had lain forgotten, abandoned and all alone.

After a while, they gradually began to stop daydreaming. Sirius jumped to his feet, stretching his arms and said "Ugh! Let's get going. I'm _starving_!" James jolted upright and mumbled something about food, whilst repositioning his glasses, which had begun to slide of the end off his nose. He climbed up out of the gap between two roots that he had slipped into, and promptly tripped up over Remus's legs. He hit the ground, face down and pushed himself up spitting out a mouthful of soil. Sirius snorted as he stepped over James, 'accidentally' kicking him in the process and forcing him back down to the floor.

"Thanks Sirius!" James spluttered weakly as he scrubbed at his tongue with his sleeve, evidently trying to clean it. "I appreciate it." Sirius doffed an imaginary hat and said in an accurately pompous voice "Oh! It was no trouble at all, my dear fellow!" Then proceeded to laugh even more as James exclaimed in a mixture of disgust and disappointment "Ugh! I can taste beetles now!" Remus looked up from his book and heaved himself to his feet, remarking sarcastically "And I suppose you know what beetles taste like, Prongs?" James climbed to his feet, dusting himself down as he did so. "Well, yeah, as it happens. I do. Third year? You and Prongs dared me to." He grinned as realisation crossed Remus's face.

As he dodged the book that was swung his way, he ran up the path to the last arriving carriage. He jumped on board and beckoned for the rest of the guys to join him. "Hey! Guys! Come on! We're gonna miss the feast!" Sirius broke into a jog and joined him before turning around to shout for Remus and Ariana to hurry up. Remus climbed up and settled down to read his book again.

A comfortable silence filled the forest again as the carriage slowly trundled up the path towards the castle. The sight never ceased to amaze the boys and many times when they had returned after the holidays, Ari had been known to tear up at the view of the surrounding forest. She had always got too emotional at the sight of such a silent but beautiful piece of nature. She loved being outdoors. As if all three boys had been thinking the same thought, they all smiled at the same time, until their eyes met and a look of shock passed over their faces. Where _was _Ariana?


	6. Chapter 6

Tricks That Once Fooled Me

"_Running from lions,_

_never felt like such a mistake. _

_Don't forget we've got,_

_unfinished business, _

_Stories yet to unfold, _

_Tales that must be retold."_

_All Time Low – Running From Lions_

Even though it was almost impossible to see anything in front of her face, she wouldn't bring her wand out to light up the path. Not because she particularly wanted to stumble around in the dark like a complete freak, possibly ruining her uniform and definitely making a mess of her hair, but because she didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to herself. Mainly because of the plethora of dangerous animals dwelling in the Forbidden Forest, but also because her personality was like that too. Some of the animals/magical creatures were either too afraid or wary of human existence; a few species were too intelligent to harm anyone walking along the main drive to school. Deep within the forest, like Ariana, lay a maze of paths, many formed by centaurs, unicorns and Thestrals, as they travelled through the trees. More dangerous creatures dwelled here, and they had no self-control when an unwitting human walked by, as they saw it, anyone trespassing in their territory needed to pay the price. Even though she was in the unsafe part of the forest, she figured that as long as she kept to the small paths, then she'd be all right.

As twigs snapped beneath her feet, she pushed her way underneath two branches interlocked and hanging across the path. She paused to unhook a bramble from the hem of her cloak and carried on, shivering slightly in the cold.

She had abandoned the boys and their roguish behaviour in the favour of the more quiet resigned thoughtfulness of herself. She had wanted to be alone with herself, in order to reflect on her argument with Lily and figure out how to sort things out properly. Granted, she could probably do that with the help of the boys. Especially Remus, but with the hyperactive state they were in, they probably wouldn't be much help.

James would probably end up changing the whole idea of the plan into some sort of 'Get Lily' mission, where he'd come up with several different (and very unsuccessful) plans to get her to:

A: Miraculously fall in love with him, where they'd be together forever, get married and have lots of little wizard babies. _Not likely, James_!

B: At least go on one date with him.

C: Or just acknowledge his existence in even the slightest.

Or it could end up with Sirius and James acting like kids and making rude and some very dirty jokes about Snivellus and Lily. They'd probably be the ones that aren't very funny; James and Sirius being, well being James and Sirius, would find them so funny that it took them ten minutes to finish rolling around the floor on hysterics and another ten minutes to stop laughing about it, at which point one of them would send the other off with another joke.

They could also be genuinely concerned about the seriousness of the argument, and then try to sort out the situation, with James sat in the background subtly hinting to Ariana that she could help set him and Lily up. _That's definitely a rare occasion._

Ariana had weighed out the chances and having decided that they were making too much noise, had walked to school instead. As the path narrowed a little she could hear the trickling sound of a babbling brook, as it navigated its way through the forest until it reached a small lake, situated in the middle of the Forest. Most of the students had no idea there was a second lake in the Hogwarts grounds, but that was probably because not many ventured that deep into the Forest.

Her fingertips brushed the mossy edge of a large slab of rock and she withdrew her hand a little as she reached a downhill incline. As she stepped down, her foot tangled in the large trailing limb of a tall fir tree. As she untangled he foot from the root, her head shot up and hit a low branch, pine needles rained down upon her in a shower of green and brown, shaking her head and cape, she removed the spiky little things and grabbed onto the rock as she lurched forward down the path. Small rocks dislodged themselves from the soil and were sent skittering down the hill as she half ran half slid down the hill, once she reached the bottom of the hill, she stood silently, waiting, listening to the surrounding Forest life, hoping she hadn't disturbed any Acromantula or other scary beings who would almost definitely eat her alive.

Taking a deep breath of the cold night air, she realised she needed to get going. The forest was starting to get darker every second and it was certainly becoming a lot colder. Guilt, or was it just the air, stabbed at her lungs every time she breathed in; filling her chest with the icy reminder of Lily. Gliding silently past the ghostly shadows of the tall trees looming up out of the darkness, Ariana broke into a sprint, eager to run all the emotions away and end up at the warm castle, where a hot meal and comfortable bed awaited her.

Swerving around trees, and avoiding the leaves and twigs littering the floor, she ran until her legs were burning and she was gasping for breath. Pausing for breath, she heard a murmur of voices. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. _Who would be this deep in the forest at this time?_

For the first time since leaving the boys, she pulled out her wand and very quietly whispered. "Muffliato." Creeping forward quietly, trying not to step on any twigs, even though any people near enough to hear wouldn't because of the effects of the charm.

Pushing her way through a small bush, overgrown and tangled together with wild grass and other weeds, she stumbled out of the border of the trees. A lake lay undisturbed by the edge of the forest, water steadily flowing in an d out by means of several small streams, leaving the lake water clear and blue.

In the middle of the lake was a small island. It was just big enough to hold a small copse trees – and judging by the low murmuring of voices – a small gathering of people could fit on there too. A small stone bridge, hanging low over the surface of the water, reached across to the island and although very old, it was extremely sturdy and didn't look dangerous, in some places the stonework was worn down, suggesting it was used quite frequently.. Silently, she glided over the stones, thankful that the soft rubber soles of her shoes didn't echo upon the floor. As she came nearer to the island, the voices became much clearer and she saw the bright orange and red flames of a fire. It flickered and weaved in and out of her sight as it became obscured between several trees. Ducking down out of sight, she hoped that the blackness of her cloak would keep her hidden. Standing behind a tree and slowing her breathing down until it was almost silent, she peered around the thick trunk.

A group of maybe six or seven Slytherins were sitting around a fire, all muttering quietly. She could only pick out a few faces in the dark, shown only briefly when the light of the fire flickered upon their grim faces. A tall blonde boy was sat at the head of the group, evidently addressing his little posse. Lucius Malfoy. Evidently he'd recovered from their previous encounter, and he looked furious. His pure white hair was ruffled and messy and he spoke in a furious growl. Venom coated his voice and he sounded murderous.

"She will pay!" He growled, as his flock mumbled in agreement. A girl with black hair, messily thrown up around her head in an arrangement of dark curls, snarled in agreement, her hands clenching around her wand in anger. "Anyone who hurts my friends will die at the hands of myself!" A second girl, this one blonde also, stood up outside the ring of students, stepped forward and attempted to calm her friend down. "Careful, Bella. We must plan our revenge carefully. If we get caught, our families will be most unpleased." Lucius nodded, a sharp jerk towards the blonde girl, he paused for dramatic effect and then spoke to the girls. "Narcissa is correct. If we were to slip up," he paused again "There would be investigations." A boy's head shot up from near the fire, where he had been greedily munching on a stale Cauldron Cake taken from the Hogwarts' Express. "Not to mention," he snuffled, in between munched "The Dark Lord, wouldn't be too pleased." He squeaked, a very familiar sound to Ariana's ears. Peter Pettigrew. Peter was there, with the Slytherins. Peter was there talking about the Dark Lord. The traitor!

Stifling a gasp, she turned away and ran, needing to get away from the secret rendezvous. Afraid that they were following here, she weaved and spun ducked and changed direction several times before coming a standstill and realising she was lost. As she wandered about between the trees hopelessly, she heard a noise, a mixture of the wind blowing and leaves rustling, coupled with a queer snorting and snuffling noise, along with a loud panting. Backing up against a thick pine tree, she held her wand out in front of her, desperately trying to wrack her brains for any spells she could use against her foe. The branches of a small hawthorn tree parted and she pointed her wand at the intruder before he hissed "Aria you fool! Put that wand down!"

She sighed in relief before rushing at him and sobbing into his astounded arms. _Sirius_.


	7. Chapter 7

**Tricks That Once Fooled Me  
**_**  
**__Hey Gloria,  
Are you standing close to the edge?  
Look out at the setting sun, brink of your vision  
Eternal youth is the landscape of a lie.  
The cracks of my skin can prove  
As the years will testify  
Say your prayers and light a fire,  
We're gonna start a war  
Your slogan is 'a gun for hire'  
It's what we waited for…_

Green Day – Viva La Gloria  


She took few minutes to calm down and cease crying, and during those few minutes, Sirius had dutifully patted her back and whispered soothing words of "It's ok." and "I'm here, you're safe now." She sniffed a few times and removed herself from him, scrubbing at her face with her sleeve, drying up her tears and making her cheeks red. Knowing her eyeliner had smudged and created black circles around her eyes, similar to the markings on the Muggle animal known as a 'panda', she pulled out her wand and muttered "Tergeo", proceeding to siphon the make-up off her face completely.

"Sorry Sirius." She murmured, looking down at the forest floor. "Can we go now please?" He nodded, stepping forward into the forest and waited for her to catch up. As she neared him, his mouth opened "Are you-" he began to ask in a low voice. She sighed, and cut him off. "Not really, but I don't want to talk about it." She muttered. "I'm tired, I'm fed up, and I just want to go to bed. I'll tell you in the morning" He nodded again and increased his strides so that they would reach the castle before lights out.

Once they reached the castle, the moon was high in the sky; making it obvious they'd missed the feast and that it would be a race against time to get back into their dormitories before Filch would catch them out of bed. As they emerged out of the woods, near to the Gamekeeper's hut, Sirius flung out an arm to prevent her from stepping too far out of the safety of the trees. She looked up at him, raising an eyebrow in question. There was a gentle rustle of leaves as he moved the arm in front of her to point towards the small hut, which served as Hagrid's home. It was easy to see the light in the window, but the two could hear no sounds. It was possible that he could be asleep, but it was very unlikely. It wasn't that late, was it?

There was a few seconds silence whilst they listened intently; straining their eyes and ears for any sound that might betray their rule breaking antics. After about a minute of silence, broken only by the gentle rustling of leaves as tree branches swayed in the gentle breeze. Sirius moved forward silently, almost gliding across the grass as he slunk over to the dark grey silhouette of the hut. He pressed himself up against the building and after waiting a moment, beckoned frantically towards Ariana, gesturing for her to join him. Ducking her head and pushing a branch out of her face, she sprinted over to him, joining him in a matter of seconds. He pressed a finger to his lips and she nodded as he pulled her across the pumpkin patch. Once they were in the woods opposite, and out of view from the hut, Ariana slowed to a walk, but Sirius grabbed at her arm and pulled her into a sprint once more..

The two friends continued running doggedly and soon they were stood panting in the middle of the Transfiguration Courtyard. Making their way around the outside of the school buildings, they came to a halt underneath the Gryffindor Tower. It was obvious they could not sneak in through the castle doors, as Filch would be alerted at once, and they would be caught and punished. To be honestly truthful Ariana didn't care whether they were punished or not, she just wanted to go to sleep. How they were going to get in to the school itself was another question.

Sirius, it seemed, knew the answer to this question. Bringing his hands up to his mouth, he cupped them together and blew into them a few times. The resulting noise both confused and amazed the shivering girl next to him. He had managed to perfectly imitate the call of a barn owl. As the two looked up the tower, a grinning face looked out of a window. The grinning bespectacled boy ruffled his hair once more and turned away from the window. Ariana was horrified. Had James just left them alone out in the cold? Her heart resumed its erratic beating as she nearly began to panic, but she calmed down once he returned to the window, carrying a rope. Sirius grinned as it finally dawned on her "You sneak out all the time don't you?" She teased. He smirked and looked up at the dark sky, peppered with a few stars, "Ari'... I couldn't possibly comment..." Ariana snorted with laughter and jumped up to catch the rope as it came within reaching distance. Turning to Sirius, she offered him the rope, but he shook his head, gesturing for her to go first "Ladies first!"

Sighing in mock frustration, she took hold of the rope and nodded up at James. Expecting him to pull the rope until she was able to climb in through the window, she was extremely surprised when he tapped the rope with his wand. It was then that Ariana became quite concerned for her safety. Being pulled up hundreds of feet by an enchanted rope, controlled by James Potter was not one of her number one ways to die if she was perfectly honest. So she closed her eyes tight and hoped for the best.

The best it seemed, wasn't too dangerous in the end, but was rather too quick for her liking. She literally flew up the side of the Tower and landed in a crumpled heap on top of Remus who had wandered over to watch the events unfold.

Everything stayed black for a while, until she finally remembered to open her eyes. James was sat grinning in front of her. "Oops." He laughed "That might have been a little too fast..." he shot her an apologetic grin before pulling her up off of poor Remus. "Welcome back, by the way!"

As she wandered towards the girl's dorm, the door slammed open and Ariana was engulfed in a gigantic hug. "Where the HELL have you been?" Lily stood in front of her, wringing her hands and looking sheepish. "It doesn't matter Lil' Can I go to bed now?" Lily looked up from the floor, where she had been admiring a _very_ interesting stain. She nodded slowly, barely noticeable in the darkness, and opened the heavy wooden door, wincing slightly as the hinges creaked. Ariana stumbled past her, barely able to keep her eyes open and threw herself onto her bed. She was asleep in seconds and never heard Lily whisper two words to her. _"I'm Sorry..."  
_


	8. Chapter 8

**Tricks That Once Fooled Me  
**

_Sing it for the boys  
Sing it for the girls  
Every time that  
You lose it  
Sing it for the world_

My Chemical Romance – Sing

A beam of sunshine moved across the wooden floor, as the sun began to rise. Gradually the light moved sideways until it lay delicately across Ariana's face. Stirring slightly, as the warmth of the sunbeam woke her, she lay in bed for a moment with her eyes closed, before throwing back the covers and climbing out of bed. None of her roommates were present, so she presumed that she had overslept, due to the lateness of the previous evening.

Frowning at the bed opposite hers, where Lily was expected to sleep, she walked over towards a large dresser in the corner of the room and collected several towels. At one end of the room, opposite to the door, there was a bathroom available. Apparently, though the school provided the prefects with their own specific bathroom, the other students were all expected to share with their roommates.

As she entered the room, she looked at herself in the mirror next to the door, realising that she looked a mess. Though she had removed much of her eyeliner last night, there was still a residue left behind on her face that she suspected the 'Tergeo' charm would not remove. Filling the large depression in the floor with hot soapy water, she lowered herself in and let the heat wash away the mud and soothe the aching feeling she had in her lower legs. Rubbing them gently, she realised that she had probably pulled a muscle when running about the forest. As she washed her hair, she picked out leaves and twigs which had gotten caught and would not dislodge. Deciding that enough was enough and that she had better get to class, before she got into even more trouble, she realised that she hadn't even got her timetable yet.

Smacking herself on the forehead in frustration, she dried herself off with the towel, then, becoming irritated that it was taking too long, used the Drought Charm to finish the job. Because she was in a rush, she flung on all of her uniform, and looking at the clothes she had worn the previous evening, sighed dejectedly. It appeared that she wasn't going to be able to get away with being massively late to class _and _wearing bad ass clothes – that was way too far for the first day. Fitting in would have to wait until another day.

Running down the Great Staircase, she came screeching to a halt as one of the flights of stairs began to move away from its base. Dancing to and fro from each foot, she impatiently waited for it to return. Returning her headlong flight down the stairs, rushing to find herself a timetable, she took a daredevil leap across a massive gap as a flight of steps took off and moved her down towards the entrance hall.

Her feet echoing on cold flagstones, she entered the Great Hall, looking up at the enchanted sky, which echoed the view of the bright sunlight which had first woken her that day. In the centre of the Gryffindor Table, was a small pile of timetables which had been missed by students in a rush to eat breakfast. Unluckily, the tables had been cleared of any leftover food, so she was unable to have even an apple for breakfast.

Skimming down the white piece of paper, she found the day and estimated which lesson she thought it was time for. Luckily she had double Charms, so would probably get away with being late. Rushing back up the staircase, she made her way to the second floor, aspiring to get there as quick as possible, but trying to come up with an excuse for being so late. As she speed walked down the corridor, a door which led to a broom closet or something like that, banged open. None other than Sirius and James flew out of the cupboard, giggling manically like a pair of first year girls. A handful of sweets and pastries surrounded them, rolling along the floor out of their reach.

Crouching down, Ariana picked up a Pumpkin Pasty and held it out to James, as he scrabbled about on the floor trying to shove all the food into his pockets whilst bent over double laughing so much he nearly wet his pants. Sirius stood up sheepishly and trying to keep a straight face said "Umm... This isn't what it looks like..." James snorted with laughter again, almost setting Sirius off laughing again, but fortunately he managed to straighten his face before losing control fully. "Yeah..." James added "You saw nothing..." He waved his hands about his face in a pathetic attempt to look 'mysterious'. Sirius laughed once more and they went off down the corridor, snorting with laughter, and pushing one another into suits of armour.

Ariana continued down the corridor, listening to James roaring with laughter as Sirius shouted "Help! I'm stuck!" Ariana giggled to herself when he started to sound more panicked "Seriously James! It's not bloody funny! The bloody Suit of Armour won't let me go!"

Knocking once on the door to the Charms classroom, she cautiously walked into the room and apologised to Professor Flitwick, who merely nodded at her and said "I understand your lateness, Remus has already explained how you were ill, so would not be coming to lesson until later."

Making her way to her seat, she took out her wand and thanked Remus, who simply smiled at her and told her it was no problem. Sliding his textbook over to the middle of the book and fetching fresh parchment and a second quill out of his bag, he passed them to Ari with a smile, indicating for her to use them instead of being penalised by Professor Flitwick for forgetting her equipment.

Whispering her thanks, she took the quill and began to copy down the notes that Remus had already taken, the scratchy sound of the nib rasping against the parchment mingling in with the other sounds of the classroom.

After the lesson had finished, she made her way back up to the Gryffindor Dormitories to grab her schoolbag and make sure she was ready for her following lessons. Now that she had a free period to study in, she decided to sort her uniform now, whilst she had the time. Then she returned to the common room to sit by the window and finish the essay that Flitwick had asked to be handed in for the next lesson.

The portrait door opened a second time and the peaceful silence was disturbed by footsteps entering the common room. Looking up for a moment when the person coughed slightly, Ariana looked back down at her work when Lily continued on her way upstairs, not even speaking to her. Deciding that she would not speak to Lily until she was spoken to, Ari closed her book and made her way to her next lesson. Sure she was about three quarters of an hour early for Herbology but at least she would be able to sit and enjoy the sun outside before the lesson.

A while after, she was joined by the others, who all sat down on a little hill outside the greenhouse area. They all quietly sat down next to her, spread out in a line, all exuberance drained by the impending thought of spending the next hour trapped in the humid little room tending to the new Venomous Tentacular plants.

As one, they all sighed, dreading getting up and going to lesson, wanting more to stay out in the sunshine than heap dragon manure onto a plant that tried to kill them whenever they got too close. James pushed himself to his feet wordlessly, indicating for the others to do so as well. "Come on then guys, s'pose we should get this over and done with..." Mumbles of agreement came from the others as they followed him, muttering about how they didn't want to get up. The loudest complaint came from Sirius who promptly threw himself back down on to the warm grass and pretended to be asleep. Or dead. Either way, he wasn't getting up for anyone. That is until James hexed him. That appeared to pick up everyone's spirit as they watched Sirius dance all the way into Greenhouse six, singing a muggle song about 'feeling like chicken tonight'.

Ariana grinned at James as they all filed into the greenhouse after him. She couldn't wait for Sirius's revenge attack, that would be... _interesting_...


	9. Chapter 9

**Tricks That Once Fooled Me**

_Now take my hand_

_And we will run away_

_Down to this place that I know_

_How did this night become the enemy? _

_It's over, it's over, it's over, it's over!_

The Cab – Take My Hand

Herbology was interesting. Though nobody truly enjoyed the subject, it was hard to deny that they didn't enjoy being permitted to swear every time they were nearly strangled by a Venomous Tentacula. Ariana certainly did not enjoy having to wear those ridiculously heavy and cumbersome dragon leather gloves; though they protected her hands from the poisonous bite of the plants, they did make her extremely clumsy.

Knocking her wand to floor for a fourth time, she cursed. "Urgh! Bloody hell!" ducking under the table to fetch it, she muttered oaths to herself as she knocked it further under. She yelped with shock as something grabbed hold of a wavy lock of black hair. Scrabbling for her wand, she relaxed when someone behind her repelled the plants tendrils with the word "Diffindo!" Pushing her hair back from her sweaty forehead, she complained inwardly about the humid air in the greenhouse. Remus offered his hand to her, helping her to her feet, smiling awkwardly as he did so. Ariana thanked him for stopping the plant from ripping out her hair and moved down the table several spaces towards Sirius, who had been absentmindedly pruning a plant on his own. As far as she was aware, he had not spoken to anyone, but the mischievous glint in his eyes and the slight curling of his mouth suggested he was already planning his revenge on James.

Sidling over to the boy, she spoke without moving her lips, making sure that noone was listening in. "I want in." Sirius stopped what he was doing and looked up at her, a boyish grin plastered across his face. "My dear Ariana, I don't know what you're on about!" He said with a conspicuous wink. Ari rolled her eyes at him and stared him down grinning right back at him. "Oh really? That is a shame… I'd hate to have to announce to the entire school that the famous Padfoot turned down an opportunity to spectacularly prank his best friend." Resisting the urge to laugh at him, she turned her back on him and slapped at a Venomous Tentacula, which had been creeping up on her unawares. Looking down at her with puppy dog eyes, he whimpered pathetically at her "You wouldn't do that to your bestest friend ever would you?" He pouted; his bottom lip stretched out fully like a little boy whose mother had refused him a bar of Honeydukes. Ignoring him, she meandered aimlessly down the aisle, tending to plants. He followed after her, practically tripping up over his own legs in the attempt to keep up with her brisk pace. Stumbling over an abandoned trowel, he lost his balance and fell amongst a pile of enormous plant pots. Glancing back at him, where he sat inside the pot, lounging casually, as if that was his plan all along. Smirking down at him, she muttered, "Well, I suppose I wouldn't have to… not if I was in on it." She stuck her tongue out at him and rejoined Remus at the plant they were solely responsible for. He sighed, following her and running a hand through his hair leaned against the wooden table in front of her. Arms folded, he looked at her seriously. "Fine then. You get your way. We can discuss the plan later." Ari looked up and patted him on the head "Good boy! I knew you'd come around eventually!" It was now his turn to smirk down at her. "One condition though." Ariana felt her smile slip from her face. "Oh god, "she said to Remus who was stood next to the two. "Well, that's clearly not going to end well." Remus nodded and went back to extracting the venom from the plant.

Sirius cleared his throat and leant forward conspiringly, whispering, "You need to explain what happened yesterday." Unfortunately a certain Mr Lupin had overheard and wandered over, agreeing straight away. "We were really worried about you, you know…" They both said. Sighing to herself, Ariana had to make a decision quickly. She wanted to be in on the prank, so badly, but she didn't really know how much she should tell them. And what about the traitor, Peter? No, she really didn't know whether to tell them. Feeling sick to stomach at the thought of Peter rendezvousing with the Dark side, she realised it was the right thing to tell Professor Dumbledore as soon as possible, but would it bear well for her friendship with Sirius, James and Remus? If it put that at risk, maybe it was best if she kept it to herself… God she was over thinking this way too much, it was going to drive her crazy if she didn't talk to someone. Reaching out to shake Sirius's outstretched hand, she muttered sullenly "Deal." Sirius grinned with satisfaction and Remus nodded at her with a smile on his face. "Library after the feast tonight. Noone else must know." She arranged, speaking bluntly and making it clear that it was not up for negotiation. "What? Not even me?" James sprung up from behind her; sounding clearly hurt that he'd been left out. Closing her eyes in attempt to calm down, she spoke through gritted teeth. "James, if it'll shut you up, you can come too, but after that, that's it, noone else can." James opened his mouth to speak, but was drowned out by the bell ringing for lunch.

* * *

Grabbing her school bag, she hurried to the Great Hall. Shafts of enchanted sunlight bore down on the tables and glinted from the cutlery. At the far end sat the teachers, already eating sandwiches and salads and other varied foods that made the tables positively groan under the weight. Professor Dumbledore sat in his carved wooden seat enthusiastically tucking into a bizarre combination of what looked like a plate of fish fingers drizzled in custard. Wooden tables set in four rows down the hall were surrounded by hundreds of students as they all jostled past each other to find suitable seats. Ariana took one look at the crowds and blanched. Though she had not eaten since breakfast the morning before and felt faint with hunger, there was no way she was going in there. Backing out of the loud room, echoing with the shouts and conversations of both teachers and students, she stood in the draughty Entrance Hall. Breathing in the cold air, she tried to fight down the faintness she felt inside. Making her way to the Great Staircase, she wondered how she should spend her free hour instead of eating. Behind her, a door opened and the three boys entered the Entrance Hall, clearly in a hurry to get to lunch whilst there was still some decent food left. Less than three seconds they all left together, with James loudly complaining about the "flipping first years think they can have _my_ seat!" and muttering about how cocky they were getting.

"James, you were exactly like that when you were a first year!" Ariana laughed, pausing to wait for them. Sirius clapped a hand on James' shoulder and said "Yeah, I'd have to agree with her there, mate." James mumbled something indiscernible in reply, and continued walking. Ari followed the group at a discreet distance, trying to ignore the numbing hunger, threatening to gnaw apart her stomach. Remus dropped back to walk with her as the other two sped onwards arguing about how James had been much cockier than Sirius in first year and vice versa. Soon they vanished out of sight around a corner or somewhere. Perhaps they'd gone to hide in a broom closet again. Ariana suggested that to Remus and giggled as he raised his eyebrows at her in confusion. "Not like that!" she sniggered and punched his arm, before repeating the story of Sirius and James falling out of the cupboard before Charms. "Ahh… Sounds like they'd been on a little detour to the kitchens. They did miss breakfast after all…" He explained to her. Ariana's ears perked up at the new found information. "Do you know where the kitchens are? I'm pretty hungry." Remus nodded, being exceptionally patient with her. Well, she supposed he got that from being around the other two for so long. "Yeah, that's where we're going. There isn't any lunch for us," he added after a moments pause "-and I don't think you've eaten in a while." She slowed in pace and turned to look at him with an incredulous look on her face. "How did you know that? Are you some sort of Seer? No wonder Professor Trelawney loved you so much!" She teased, referring to their Divination lessons from Third Year, where Remus was a firm favourite with their teacher. Remus snorted with laughter "Hardly… I just noticed that you are looking extremely pale and actually that you missed the feast yesterday and breakfast this morning. I pay attention Ariana, that's all." He laughed again and led the way along a corridor before stopping her in front of a painting of a fruit bowl. She looked at it, deeming it a perfectly normal looking fruit bowl apart from the fact that its occupants were not able to move about, though that was more likely to do with the fact that they were in fact, regular fruit. She was about to ask Remus the significance of that particular painting, when he reached out and deliberately tickled a large pear in the centre of the canvas. Looking at her friend incredulously, she could only stand and stare as the painting swung inwards and revealed a secret tunnel.

Accepting Remus's hand, she climbed into the tunnel with some slight difficulty and followed him into the kitchens. James and Sirius were already there, no surprises there, considering the mountain of food they had been provided with. The boys sat surrounded by a pile of cakes and puddings, cramming as much as they could into their mouths without spraying crumbs everywhere. Bustling around the cosy room and tending to several pots cooking on stoves around the room, were small creatures that Ariana did not recognise until one walked past her. "House Elves!" She murmured in wonder. Once the occupants of the room noticed the new arrivals, a flurry of activity began. Sirius jumped up from his seat, bowing low and waving his arms extravagantly above his head, allowing generous globs of cream from his chocolate éclair to land on the floor and ceiling. The house elves seemed quite unbothered by the mess he had created and instead surrounded Ariana and Remus, positively beaming with joy. "Ladies and gentleman, May I introduce the lovely, Ariana!" Sirius called, jamming the rest of the éclair into his mouth.

A male house elf stood forward of the others, a bedraggled tea towel wrapped around his midriff. Bowing down so that his nose practically touched the floor, he squeaked up at her "My name is Poggy. What services may we provide you with, Miss Ariana?" She paused, confused at looked up at Remus for help. He obliged, leaning close to her in order to whisper, "Tell them you'd like some food!" Ari looked up at him worriedly "I can't ask them to do that! They just slaved away making food for the rest of the school, I can't make more work for them!" She hissed at him. Remus just looked down at her with an amused expression on his face. "Look at them Ari. They _enjoy_ cooking. It's not unfair. Trust me." Looking up at him, their eyes met. Ariana held Remus's gaze, unblinkingly for a few minutes. She had to admit he did have nice eyes was someone she could trust indefinitely. "Ok," she whispered inaudibly, smiling up at him. ""Well Poggy, I'm really hungry, so some food would be nice." She said to the house elf. Instantly he beamed with genuine happiness. "What sort of food would you like? We can make anything you want" Ariana grinned. "Well then Poggy, lets test your culinary skills! Be warned, I am extremely hungry," she warned before launching into a huge list of food, "I shall have a Panini, some cheese and onion pasties, and loads of orange juice bottled up if possible, some…" she paused for a moment, trying to think of food she'd like to eat "Ooh! Chocolate Cookies…" she said, pointing towards Sirius who had started on his fourth, too busy eating to care about the cream moustache he had all over his top lip. "And to finish it off…. some of those éclairs," She also toyed with the idea of asking for Yorkshire Puddings, but thought it would be pointless to eat them without gravy, which she could easily have asked for but then it would have meant having to carry them about on a plate which she most certainly didn't want to do. She folded her arms and prepared to wait, certain that it would take them ages. Sitting down on an armchair nearby, she lounged back against the soft cushions and closed her eyes, blissfully. Only ten minutes later, a horde of house elves surrounded her with armfuls of packages. She thanked them all individually and packed them all carefully into her schoolbag.

Sirius and James were still sat at the mountain of cakes, though they appeared to have hit 'the wall'. James kept picking up the odd slice of chocolate gateaux and looking adoringly at it, before directing it towards his mouth yet, try, as he might, couldn't force his hand to move it within an inch of his mouth. Sirius had apparently given up and had resigned to glumly flicking crumbs across the room. Rising to her feet, she bid farewell to the house elves who all looked distraught that she was leaving. Tapping Remus on the shoulder, who was immersed in his book, whilst munching on some cheese sandwiches, she beckoned the three boys to leave the sweltering heat of the kitchen and to leave the house elves be.

They all obliged, following her out of the castle and into the grounds, right down to the lake, where they all settled down in the shade of a large tree right near the bank of the lake. Pulling the still warm food from her school bag, she settled down with a comfortable sigh to eat her lunch, well _technically _breakfast, slapping the hands of Sirius and James, which were tentatively snaking out to try and steal her food.


	10. Chapter 10

**Tricks That Once Fooled Me**

_Now I think I understand,_

_how this world can overcome a man._

_Like a friend we saw through,_

_in the end I gave my life for you._

_Not that I could, or that I would,_

_Let it burn, under my skin, let it __**burn**__!_

Avenged Sevenfold – Fiction

After the pleasant lunch spent in the company of her friends, Ariana made her way to Potions. The subject of how she enjoyed such a lesson often cropped up amongst them, to which the answer was simple. She didn't. Well, not really. Compared to lessons like History of Magic and Herbology, yes she enjoyed the creativity of it all and it was admittedly, a lot more interesting. She did however hate the fact that most of the people in her class were Slytherins, aside from Lily of course, but that was just as bad seeing as they weren't on speaking terms. She also hated Professor Slughorn and his irritating ways of picking out interesting people as his favourites in the class and then inviting them to those damn parties all the time.

That lesson they were making the Draught of Living Death, an extremely powerful sleeping draught. Taking out her pestle and mortar, which she had purchased at the apothecary in Diagon Alley in her first year, she placed a chunk of asphodel root in it and began to grind it to a powder. It was surprisingly calming, she thought, as she pounded away at the mixture, releasing all of her anger at recent events. As she checked her cauldron was still simmering, she thought about whether she should avoid going to the library that evening. It wasn't as if they could hunt her down, the castle was big enough to hide in!

Immersed in her thoughts, she didn't notice Lily watching her from across the room. Nor did she see Lucius Malfoy glaring at her from the back of the room. Adding the powdered asphodel to the infusion of wormwood in the cauldron, she let the mixture simmer for ten minutes, occasionally stirring clockwise like the instructions in her textbook said to do. Barely a minute before the bell went, she managed to put the stopper in the crystal vial of a sample and handed it in to Professor Slughorn. Noone else had finished by then, so clearing up and leaving the dungeons quickly, she vowed to make her way to dinner and save the regular seats for the boys, if only to stop James complaining about other people stealing them.

Soon after, they joined her at the table, silently seating themselves opposite her in a row, where practically the only seats were available. Looking up from her bag, where she was checking to make sure that the crunch she had heard whilst sitting down was not in fact the demise of one of her vials, she caught a glimpse of Lily's red hair weaving through the crowd to reach the Gryffindor table. Glancing about her, she realised that the only free seats were either side of her. Looking agonizingly at the boys, her worry quickly dissipated when Sirius and Remus quickly ducked under the table to fill those seats, leaving James to beam with joy when the vacant seats next to him, were filled by Lily and a friend.

James attempted to strike up a conversation with Lily, but was immediately rejected much to the amusement of Sirius. Scowling at them both, she deliberately turned away and spoke inaudibly to her friend, who giggled nastily and agreed with whatever she had said. Ariana did not pay much attention to the Headmaster's speech and merely stared glumly at the table, taking occasional sips of pumpkin juice from her goblet. After dinner was served, she silently picked up the serving spoon of the nearest bowls and dumped them unceremoniously on her plate. Choosing cauliflower cheese, spinach and roast potatoes, she was in the middle of choosing what meat she wanted, from a choice of roast chicken, roast pork and crackling or lamb chops, when she realised she wasn't all that hungry any more. Eating all that she could, she kept herself to herself for the rest of the meal, half-heartedly listening to the conversations of her friends.

The silence after the meal was rather disconcerting, so Ariana stood up and made her way to the library to wait for the others, who were still eating dessert. Sitting down on a comfy sofa by one of the massive fireplaces, she relaxed as she felt the warmth seep through her body. Settling down amongst the cushions she closed her eyes, just for a moment, to block out the brightness of the flames. Nearly an hour later, she woke up, as a result of someone repeatedly poking her. Mumbling in complaint, she swatted their hand away and rolled over. They persisted until she sat upright, bleary eyed and groggy. Sat in nearby armchairs were James and Remus, Sirius had joined her on the sofa; it appeared, he was the one trying to wake her up.

"Oh. Hey guys..." She mumbled, rubbing at her eyes in an attempt to wake herself up. "What time is it please?" Remus looked at his watch, sending a golden spark across the room as the light from the fire glinted off the shiny face. "Just gone nine o'clock"

Sirius leant back against the sofa; letting his long legs stretch out towards the fire said, "Well, we'd better hurry this up then, we wouldn't want to be caught out of bed after hours." Looking at Ariana, he winked cheekily, earning a weak smile from her. "Go on then," he gestured to her to begin. Clearing her throat, she began her story, explaining to Sirius and James that her mother frowned upon the friends she had made at school and banned her from speaking to them. She told them how Lily had scorned her apology and run off to Snivellus, speaking the name with disdain. "So I decided to walk to school, I needed to think and I wanted to be alone. I'm really sorry for making you angry…" She said, trying desperately not to let the tears fogging up her vision to fall. An arm wrapped itself around her shoulders and pulled her in close, enveloping her in a hug. The others joined in, silently trying to cheer her up. James wiped her cheeks with his shirt cuff whilst Sirius whispered in her ear, "We just didn't want you to get hurt. We could never be angry at you, we all love you to pieces." Ariana nodded in response and kissed each one of them on the cheek in silent thanks. She was glad she hadn't mentioned Peter to them, though it filled her with guilt for hiding things from them.

* * *

Lying in bed that night, he felt his hand drifting up to the spot she had kissed earlier. He smiled at the memory and felt his stomach tremble with butterflies. He shouldn't be lingering on the thought and he felt sure was blushing – she is his best friend after all. Perhaps he should get some air and clear his head…

* * *

Ariana entered the common room silently, ignoring the hum of conversation coming from the armchairs surrounding the fire. Stalking past Lily and the rest of the girls who she shared the dormitory with pretending they didn't exist and made her way to bed, shrugging off questions from the others. As she made her way up the stairs, past the boy's dormitories, a movement at the top caught her eye. Pausing in the shadows, his hand on the door to the sixth year's dormitory was Sirius. Smiling sadly at her, he closed the door softly, leaving her alone once more.


	11. Chapter 11

**Just a short update. I'd like to thank everyone who has read or reviewed in the past, and also remind them to review, or else there won't be any updates for a while :P**

* * *

**Tricks That Once Fooled Me**

_For crying out loud, I'm running from a comedown,_

_God forbid, I know I've been a letdown_

_Reaching for the sky while laying in a gutter_  
_Kicking and screaming I'm singing bloody murder_

Papa Roach – Alive (N' Outta Control)

The weekend had arrived, after only two days back at school. Ari had changed the contents of her schoolbag from schoolbooks and parchment to that of a heavy book she had bought at Flourish and Blotts the previous week. She had not yet gotten around to reading it, so she planned to spend most of the day doing so.

Planting herself next to Sirius on the bench at the Gryffindor table, she smiled warmly at the boys who were already tucking into breakfast, and, in Remus's case, reading the Daily Prophet. "Morning, children!" She trilled, beaming as she sat down, pulling a plate of sausages towards her. "We're all older than you, you know." James said pointedly, as he refilled his plate of bacon. "Only by a few days, James, only a few days…" She retorted, waving a half a sausage at him, before leaning over and swiping half of his bacon. Chuckling at his shriek of protest, she turned to the others "And how are we this fine morning?" Smiling at their half-hearted replies, broken by two humongous yawns, she stretched past Sirius to reach a bowl of porridge. "What?" she asked, watching as James's expression changed instantly to disgust. "You do realise porridge tastes like sawdust, right?" She looked up, gesturing deliberately to the sugar bowl directly in front of her. "Not if you add sugar, it doesn't." A thunk next to her dragged her away from laughing at James' dumbfounded look, to glance at the cover of Witch Weekly. "Aah, is this mine?" she asked, looking at Sirius as he put it down next to her. "Yeah, you missed the post," he yawned, before he poured himself another coffee – his third by the look of things. "Oh, Merlin!" She cried aloud, not long after opening the first page of her magazine. "What?" cried the three other boys, momentarily confused. She smacked her head against the hard wood of the table. "Celestina bloody Warbeck is doing her own version of _Beat Those Bludgers Back Boys, And Chuck That Quaffle Over Here!_" Sirius snorted into his coffee, spraying it all over Remus's Daily Prophet, earning himself a less than amused look from said boy. "What? You don't mean the Puddlemere United anthem do you?" As she confirmed so, he threw his head back and laughed loudly, a singularly bark like sound. "Yeah, something about a charity fundraiser for St Mungos." She said, closing the magazine carefully and setting it down by the plate as Sirius handed her a warm mug. "Here." She looked at him confused, then back at the mug, sceptically. "What is it? And what have you put in it?" Remus chuckled slightly from behind his newspaper and James didn't seem to have noticed, too busy shovelling more food into his cavernous mouth.

Sirius protested his innocence for the next ten minutes, as Ariana resolutely refused to drink the coffee in front of her. "I was only trying to be nice!" He whined, trying to persuade her to drink it, whilst she sat pouting childishly with her arms crossed. Eventually Remus appeared to have had enough of Sirius's complaining, as he leant over to the cup and sipped at it. "Gods! That's disgusting Sirius! How did you manage to screw up a simple cup of coffee?" Sirius shrugged pathetically, sipping at it himself and looking at it. "What? That's how I always make it!" Ariana and Remus were now glaring at the cup as if expecting it to jump up and bite them. "Sirius, you've always drunk your coffee black," James muttered, through a mouthful of scrambled egg, "What did you do to this?" He shrugged, before mumbling "I put some milk in it? You don't like black coffee," James sniggered at his friend's pathetic attempt to make coffee and turned back to his breakfast. Remus leant across the table and grabbed the sugar bowl, before lavishly spooning the sweetener in. "There." He said triumphantly, gesturing for her to take a sip, resulting in a delighted grin from Ariana, who promptly downed the coffee and leapt up from the bench. "Where're you off to then?" demanded Sirius, who was lazily flicking through Which Broomstick? She half turned, adjusting the strap of her bag, "Dormitory if it's all right with you Mr Black?" James grinned at her appreciatively; Remus looked slightly concerned "Do you have to? What if you have another argument with Lily?" At the mention of her name, Ariana's eyes strayed to the floor, where her trainers stood out against the pale grey of the stone floor. A yelp of pain echoed throughout the Great Hall, as Sirius smacked James about the back of the head for drooling over the redheaded Gryffindor. "Well, I suppose I have to risk that, Remus, I can't just avoid the common room at all times, plus I sort of need to get changed and have a bath." At the mention of a bath, Sirius's ears pricked up and he focussed his attention back on her, rather than James, who he had repeatedly tried to force to place his head into a bowl of porridge. "Ooh!" He said, sounding mildly interested, "Mind if I join you?" She sighed, frustrated with his repeated attempts to add her to his list of 'conquered' girls. "Sod off, Black. You know I'd mind." She said, before rushing out of the Great Hall and making her way back to the Common Room.

"Ouch." muttered James, ruffling his hair up at the back and glancing towards Remus, who was nodding in agreement. "She's not interested, Padfoot, just leave it mate." Sirius shook his head violently, "Nah, she does, she just doesn't know it yet." Remus sighed and went back to his newspaper, muttering darkly, "I'd leave her be Sirius, or she'll hate you." Sirius looked sombre for a moment before picking up a piece of toast and grinning widely as he replied, "Oh cheer up Moony!"

She left the Common Room as quickly as possible, dressed in a pair of black trousers an Appleby Arrows shirt, pale blue with a silver arrow – just like the kit her favourite Quidditch team played in. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she made her way outside into the castle grounds, where the sky had begun to turn dark and grey clouds had gathered overhead. As she had just settled down on the grass outside of the castle, the heavens opened and the rain began to pour. Sighing, she pulled her wand out and tapped the cover of the book, muttering "Impervious" as she did so. Then, stretching out comfortably, she sat down and began to read 'My Life As a Muggle' by Daisy Hookum. She became so absorbed in reading, that she didn't notice the lightning flashing overhead, nor did she hear the echoing rumbles of thunder nearby. It was only when the rainfall became so heavy that it broke through the spell she had cast upon her book, that she looked up and noticed how dark it had become. She jumped to her feet in surprise as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching quietly. Slipping her book back into her bag, she held her wand out in front of her, ready to disarm them if the need be. Out of the darkness loomed the shape of Remus. She sighed with relief as she stowed her wand back in her pocket and stepped forward to meet him. "You didn't come back after the storm started, so I came to get you." He smiled awkwardly, blowing a raindrop from the end of his nose. She laughed as she realised how wet she was, her pale blue shirt was now almost navy it was so wet, and her hair fell across her shoulders, looking bedraggled, water dripping from their ends as they stood in the rain. "Come on." said Remus, taking her arm and steering her back towards the school as she started to shiver uncontrollably.

The Gryffindor common room was pleasantly quiet, save for the younger kids playing Gobstones and Exploding Snap in the corner. Sirius and James surprisingly, were sat doing homework, but looked up expectantly once they heard the portrait door opening. They seemed relieved to see her returned safely in one piece, settling down comfortably to work once more – free of the worry they had apparently been feeling since she hadn't returned. She sat down in front of the fire, as close as she dared, hoping to dry out quickly, so she could sit down and finish her book, explaining what it was like for the author, when she gave up using magic for a year. Once again, the common room was enveloped in a comfortable silence. After a good hour or so sat by the fire, she relocated to the sofa and took out her book. Remus sat next to her silently, his own book open upon his lap as he perused the pages carefully, eager to read every word. Staring into the fire, she watched as ember light jumped and flickered as the flames in the grate danced and weaved between each other. They were mesmerising, and she suddenly realised she was watching a single flame move about the fireplace, as it dulled her senses and she felt herself being drawn into darkness.

Hands shook her awake, hours later, and she became aware that she'd fallen asleep on Remus's shoulder. Blushing awkwardly, she had apologized profusely, until Sirius and James had had enough of her stammered apologies and dragged her to the Great Hall for supper. She was still in a haze, caused by her nap earlier, so sat silently at the Gryffindor table eating bangers and mash, barely watching as the others grabbed handfuls of anything within their reach, normally she would have made comments about the never-ending appetite of her three friends, before promptly devouring three times as much food as they had eaten together, but, tonight she was just too tired. Not even a rousing conversation about Quidditch could provoke a reaction from her. It was when she began to nod off at the table, that James forced her to her feet and directed her towards the common room and to her invitingly warm, comfortable bed.

She wasn't even fazed by the thought of encountering Lily, or any of the other girls in their dormitory, nor she was unbothered by the prospect of having to answer their brutal questions about where she had been the night they had returned to Hogwarts. Stumbling blindly up the spiral stairs towards the impending questions, she paused slightly in her rush to get upstairs and spoke through a deafening yawn "Thankyou," to the three blurry shapes, waiting at the bottom. "Goodnight," they chorused, grinning at her pathetic attempt at warding off sleep. Then, one by one, they ascended the steps to their own dormitory and their own beds.


	12. Chapter 12

**Tricks That Once Fooled Me**

_Baby, Be mine,_

_Cause even God knows,_

_Girl if you've want it, _

_You got it, you'll never let it go._

_You're all that I want, _

_You've heard this all before,_

_Cause if you're taken, I'll be waiting outside of your door!_

_There's no rest for,_

_The reckless who fall into love!_

Hedley – Scream

She awoke suddenly from a horribly realistic nightmare, thrashing about under the covers and covered in sweat. Sitting up, she brushed back her hair from her forehead and tried to forget the images she had pulsing through her mind, the images of her friends lying dead or dying right in front of her eyes and her, standing, watching, unable to think, move, act; unable to help save them.

Shuddering at the memory, she slipped out from her bed, biting back the yelp of shock as her feet touched the cold stone of the floor. Her forehead was clammy and she felt sick, as she got up to pace the length of the dormitory, trying to cool down. A quick glance out of the window showed that yesterday's thunderstorm had finally ended. The far off treetops of the Forbidden Forest swayed slightly in the gentle wind, and somewhere outside, an owl hooted. As she admired the view, she felt an overwhelming desire to join the bird, to be outside and breathe the cold air, to feel the soft touch of the wind. She resumed her pacing, only to immediately stumble over the handle of her Nimbus 1500, grabbing the foot of her bed to prevent her from falling to floor and waking up the fifth year girls in the dorm below. Glancing back at the broomstick, she grinned once as a brilliant plan began to form in her head. Slipping on her trainers, she picked up her broom and padded over to the window, hoping her movements didn't wake up the other girls in her year. She leant against the sill, sighing wistfully as she watched the trees dance in the breeze, then eyed up the window hopefully. It seemed small, but she thought she might be able to squeeze through if she tried. Leaning forward and grasping hold of the cast iron latch, she lifted it and pulled with all her might, cursing the rusty hinges as it shuddered to a halt only an inch open. Eyeing the gap with dismay, she closed the window, longing to be outside and finally free from the stuffy room.

Slipping from the room silently, she tiptoed towards the only other place she could think of. She wondered, as she crept up the stairs, why she didn't just take the chance of getting caught by Filch or Mrs Norris and go all the way up to the Astronomy Tower. Suddenly she realised what she was actually planning on doing and shuddered to a halt. It was too late. The door had swung open, as she opened it absentmindedly. Both Sirius and James were in bed, fast asleep, both cocooned in their duvets so that only the very tops of their heads were visible, but, following the dim glow of a candle in the far corner, she realised one of the boys was still awake.

Remus, was sat up in bed reading. As she shuffled in to the dormitory, he glanced up at the movement, then back down at his book. A second later, he appeared to have properly noticed her as he leapt out of bed with a strangled shout and grabbing his wand. The others stirred slightly in their sleep, and rolled over, Sirius mumbling something along the lines of "Shut up, Moony." But it was so thickly slurred with sleep that it was a very slim interpretation of his speech. In reality it sounded much more like "Nurrr, shuup Moonee!" Remus put his wand down on his bedside table, picking up his heavy leatherbound book from the floor and wedging it in place. "What are you doing in here, Ari?" he asked, looking at Ariana with a confused expression. She shrugged, looking at the floor, "Couldn't sleep. Off flying." She muttered, blushing in embarrassment.

James' head poked out from his blanket cocoon and groaned, "Who's talking so loudly?" he demanded, before yawning so strongly his head could have split in two. Sirius muttered his assent before sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. Across the room by the window, James did the same, before replacing his glasses, which were lying on the bedside table next to him. "What the bloody hell are you doing in here?" he asked, as James let out, quite possibly, the girlish shriek imaginable and yanked his bedclothes up to his neck. Ariana sniggered at him and walked past the foot of his bed to get to the window. "She reckons she's going out to fly in this weather." Remus remarked quite derisively. Sirius brushed it off and waved his hand towards the view out of the window, "Ohh, its not all that bad Moony, if she wants to, I say, let her go!" He sighed, and then fell back into his bed, yawning copiously.

She climbed up onto the windowsill and opened the window as wide as it could go, then prepared to mount her broomstick, before she could take off, a hand enclosed her ankle with a vice like grip. Looking back into the dorm, she met Remus's worried gaze. "Don't go. Please. It's dangerous out there at night time." For a moment, she felt like jumping back into the room with her friends and going back to her bed, but then, a sudden gust of ice cold wind blew against the back of her neck and made up her mind for her. Grinning wryly she whispered to him "Don't worry about me Remus," she shuddered with excitement as anther gust of wind attacked her and added, "I'm invincible! Nothing can hurt me!" as she leapt from the thin window ledge of the Gryffindor Tower.

For a moment, she was free falling, nearing the ground with every second, 200, 100, 50 ft away, then, just before impact, her broom kicked into action and began to climb vertically, allowing the ground to slip away at an astonishing speed. Soon, she was hovering just above the clouds, looking up at the stars. Though the enchanted roof in the Great Hall was beautiful in its own right, it was nothing compared to the real thing. She could have sat there for hours, except it was starting to get quite cold, so she did a few more laps of the grounds, and a couple of loop the loops and more evasive techniques she had studied from various Quidditch teams before returning to the Tower.

* * *

"Wow." breathed James in awe, as Sirius stood next to him nodding in agreement, twirling a strand of hair around his finger. "I know." Remus stirred from his place in bed, "Great. Will you please stop ogling at her at get back into bed?" James scoffed, half turning away from the window, "Moony, you make it sound like we're looking at her for more than her Quidditch skills! Which I certainly am not!" He added, before Remus pointed towards Sirius all he needed to add was "He is." before Sirius snapped out of his reverie, "You know," he said thoughtfully, seemingly having not heard Remus, "She should try out next week – she'd be a good Seeker, don't you think?" he asked James. James nodded in silent agreement, before leaping back into bed. Sirius remained stood for a moment, then sprung into action almost immediately after, as he noticed Ariana turn for home.

* * *

As Ariana clambered through the window, dragging her broomstick behind her, she could see Sirius and James visibly wince as a twig snapped. Glancing at the bed closest the door, its blankets made up neatly and the curtains swept back carefully. It looked as if it hadn't even been slept in. _How could she have missed it on her way in?_ "Where's Peter?" she asked suspiciously, glancing at each of the boys carefully, wondering if it was just part of one of their little pranks, but no, a look of confusion and guilt flitted across each of their faces. "We don't know," they shrugged, "Never even noticed he wasn't here…" added Sirius, shrugging a second time, looking supremely unconcerned. "Probably went down to the kitchens and ate so much he couldn't get back up the stairs," he sniggered. She looked doubtful, instead, saying her goodnights and making her way back to bed. It wouldn't do to dwell on His Traitorousness ... ness.


	13. Chapter 13

******A/N: Okay, so this update was long overdue, but I've been suffering from a bit of writers block - well, I say writers block, but it was more boredom, which is the same I guess. Anyway, this is just a short update to ease me back into writing for Tricks That Once Fooled Me, and there should be another one coming up soon - that also means there'll be an update for Morning's First Light on the same day - just to keep it nice and simple for you all! Don't forget to review!**

* * *

**Tricks That Once Fooled Me**

_See I don't spray snakes with skulls or profanities,_

_And I don't tag public transport or libraries,_

_But if there's a sign that you'll pass daily,_

_I'll paint a picture of you saying,_

_Will you be my lady?_

_The colours of love all start in one can_

_I spray out my love, so you'll know who I am._

Graffiti – James Elmer

The few hours' sleep she had managed to get after creeping back into the girls' dormitory had been the best she'd had in a while. Once she woke up she had nearly forgotten her nightmare completely, and was in a better mood than she had been all week. It was the last day of the weekend, and though she was determined to enjoy herself thoroughly before being worn out by the week to come, she also knew that she should finish her homework, for fear of losing points for Gryffindor before the year had even begun properly.

Slughorn had set a rather difficult essay, which she knew she had to get out of the way, so she had skipped lunch in favour of working in the Library. She had written almost a foot on Everlasting Elixirs, when the thump of a heavy bag on the chair next to her made her jump. Cursing mildly as her inkbottle spilled over the table, she turned to greet Sirius as he spread a ratty piece of parchment on the table next to her.

"Surprised to see you in here," she commented, brandishing her wand once and muttering "Evanesco," as she tapped the puddle of ink.

He lounged in his chair for a moment, before mumbling, "I need you to help me with my essay,"

"I've got my own to do!" She exclaimed, writing feverishly.

"Please?" He asked, sitting upright and rummaging in his bag.

"What's in it for me?" She sighed, rolling up her own neat parchment before turning to face her friend.

"Will this do?" Sirius grinned, before bringing out a deluxe pack of Honeydukes' Chocoballs. "Plus-" he added, though she paid no attention, "A chance to try out for the Quidditch Team, courtesy of our very own Prongs?"

As she snatched at the chocolate, he brought it high above his head, waving it at her mockingly as she strained to reach it.

"Do we have a deal?" He said, levitating the chocolate even higher out of reach. "Do we have a deal?" He repeated, smirking at her scowl.

"Yes." She sighed, "Now, give!"

Sirius chuckled and let the bag of chocolates fall to the floor, before swiping her finished essay. "James says the tryouts are tomorrow after school."

She mumbled in agreement, before suddenly realising what he had said, "Wait, what?"

"You heard me, Quidditch Tryouts. Tomorrow."

"I'm not going. You can't make me."

"Oh, I can," Sirius smirked, his hand inching towards the bag of Chocoballs, as if he was preparing to take them away.

She looked at him with a torturous expression on her face "No, Sirius, _I can't_. My mother-"

His face clouded over at the mention of her mother, a scowl replacing the cheeky grin he had been flaunting only a second previously. He grasped her hand and spoke softly, but seriously. "You can't let her govern your life like this Ari'." As she opened her mouth to protest, he shushed her almost impatiently. "No, seriously. She can't do this to you. To hell with her! If you want to tryout, then do it! Nothing can stop you!"

"But-"

"But nothing! Ariana! If you want this-" He said, his eyes suddenly burning holes right through her, "If you really want this, then sod the consequences."

She looked at him for a moment, trying to gauge whether this was just one of his pranks, before sensing the honesty in his gaze.

She nodded once, before speaking croakily. "Okay, I'll do it."

He nodded once in reply, letting go of her wrist where he had been grasping on, trying desperately to convey his message.

"Since when have you become so philosophical anyway?" She grinned, winking at him.

"My mother-" He began gravely, not meeting her gaze. "She was like that too." As she pressed a hand to her mouth, stifling a gasp of shock, he continued, slowly at first, but gaining confidence the more he said. "She never let me do anything I wanted to, not if it would tarnish the name of our family. She was livid when I got into Gryffindor- never treated me the same after that. Eventually it got too much and-" He laughed mirthlessly as he reminisced, before looking at her, a slight smile gracing his lips. "Well, now, I'm living with James!"

"Really?"

"Really. And-" he said ""Honestly, it's the best thing I've ever done!"

She smiled sadly at him, suddenly realising why he had been hit hardest by her story yesterday. Tentatively, her hand snaked out and rested lightly on his lower arm, startling Sirius somewhat. As his head whipped up to meet her eyes, she whispered softly, "Wish I was strong enough to do that,"

Sirius sat silently for a moment, "You are." Seeing the expression on her face, he hastened to add, "You just don't know it yet."

There was a moment's silence before she sniggered and jostled his shoulder, "I'm liking this new philosophical Sirius, though I'm not sure it'll last! What have the house elves been feeding you?"

He sniggered, and nudged her back, pulling her to her feet ushering he out of the Library saying, "Come on then, I'll help you practice for the tryouts and on the way we can start planning this prank!"

"Sounds like a plan to me!"


	14. Chapter 14

******A/N: Sorry for the wait everyone! I'd like to say that there'll be an update soon for the other two, but, by now I think you all know exactly what I'm like. But still, it's my birthday on Saturday - don't be mad D:**

* * *

**Tricks That Once Fooled Me**

_And you never would have thought in the end,  
How amazing it feels just to live again,  
It's a feeling that you cannot miss,  
And it burns a hole, through everyone that feels it._

Blue and Yellow - The Used

As she entered the Common Room quietly, a few third years looked up from their game of Wizarding Chess to acknowledge her arrival. One of them, a cheeky, ginger haired lad waved enthusiastically and beckoned her over to play. Laughing slightly, she shook her head, instead marching up the stairs to grab her broom. The Common Room was still pleasantly silent by the time she had returned, broken only by the murmurs of studying fourth years and the crackle of the fire.

Glancing at her watch she huffed impatiently; she still had twenty minutes left until Sirius had planned to meet her on the Quidditch Pitch. Slinging her broom into a corner where it was out of the way, she slumped into a squashy armchair opposite the boy and contemplated her first move. Bridging her fingers upon her nose, she muttered "Pawn to E3" cautiously.

Aware that she was by no means a seasoned player, the boy grinned and took advantage of that, boldly betting a galleon that she would lose. Winking back in reply, she rummaged deep down in her pockets to find one and flipped it onto the table. The boy was confident, too confident in fact, and soon she remembered a foolproof way to win the game – a method Remus had taught her last year.

"Bishop to C4"

The boy's grin stretched even broader across his face as he beamed at her obvious mistake. By moving her kingside bishop, she had left the king wide open for attack and her opponent knew exactly how to exploit this weakness. Focusing his attack on the king, he barely blinked an eyelid when she muttered "Queen to F3" and smirked proudly at the kid.

He looked up at her with a confused expression and blinked several times, trying to comprehend why she was so amused, until his jaw dropped in horror. "Queen to F7" She announced proudly, giggling horrifically as the little chess figure smashed up a pawn in its way. As her queen came to rest upon the F7 square, the opponent's King fell face down onto the chess board.

"I think that means I win." She sniggered, before snatching up the two galleon coins on the worn wooden table and sweeping away to meet Sirius

It was almost dusk and the temperature was rapidly starting to drop as the sun slipped away beyond the horizon and soon she found herself wandering the edge of the Quidditch Pitch, still waiting for Sirius. She wondered whether it was worth going back to the Common Room to wait for him there, but figured that he would probably turn up just as she left. Sighing impatiently, she took off and flew across the pitch languidly, not bothering to even hold on. She tied her hair up quickly as her broom drifted, preparing for some serious practice once Sirius _finally _arrived. Though most of the girls fawned over his bad boy attitude, his punctuality was nothing to be desired – sometimes the boy could be infuriatingly late – especially to class. It wasn't surprising that most of the teachers disliked him, even despite his intelligence, but still, sometime he could be really good at giving pointers – if his head was properly screwed on. Still, she did wonder why James hadn't been the one to help her practice – he was the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and Sirius wasn't even on the team, nor was he planning on trying out as far as she was aware.

Shifting her weight, she pulled her broom so that it began a steep incline, before levelling out after a couple of feet. Though Sirius had still not arrived and she was without a safety spotter on the ground - someone who could fetch help if she fell - she decided to crack on, starting by practicing the Sloth Grip Roll, an evasive manoeuvre she would need to use frequently if she made the team. The move was not exactly difficult to complete, she'd learnt it in second year, but she needed to perfect her posture slightly.

"Move your knees back!" A shout echoed from the far edge of the pitch, where the trees of the Forbidden Forest began. Sirius stood a little way ahead of the trees, for once not lounging casually against a tree trunk. He was actually stood watching, looking almost earnest, not like he normally did, with an expression of casual indifference.

Obliging his command, she carefully slid her knees further away from her hands, making her broom dip sharply and bank to one side to compensate for the change in balance. Shrieking a bit as her foot came loose, she reacted without thinking and let go of her broom rather than clinging on tighter. Luckily her broom had dipped quite far, and the drop only measured about three or four foot and not a more dangerous height. She landed nimbly on the pitch, slipping slightly in the dew soaked grass before leaping up again and deftly catching hold of her broom before it flew out of reach.

Sirius spent twenty minutes making her repeat Sloth Grip Rolls until he was happy she had perfected her posture and had learnt to grip better with her knees. When they'd had enough, she circled the pitch a few times, showing off with a few loops and demonstrated her finesse at pulling off the Wronski Feint and the Woollongong Shimmy, before landing neatly beside him.

He seemed impressed, and spent a few minutes trying to help her decide which position to try out for. They had no idea who else was trying out or whether they were competent enough to get the position, so in the end, Sirius decided that she'd try for everything, therefore increasing her chances of success.

The plan for the prank was fairly simple, though it did take rather a long time to decide upon. Sirius kept complicating each idea they had by making it over extravagant in practically every way, something which Ari found quite odd, considering he was well practiced at being a troublemaker.

After disputing several ideas of Sirius's involving an enraged manticore, or at least a niffler or three, they finally agreed on something low key, which would enable Sirius to get his revenge without unleashing a full blown prank war between the Marauders, which, knowing her friends, would soon lead to include the rest of their year or house, or in the worst case scenario, the whole school.


	15. Chapter 15

**Tricks That Once Fooled Me**

_He is like fire, burning through time  
As old as forever, but fast in his prime  
I saw his blue spaceship materialise  
He stepped out and said to me, "run for your life!"_

Chameleon Circuit – An Awful Lot of Running to Do

Their plan was fool proof; they would attack at breakfast, which was the only time of day when James was too busy eating to take notice of anything else. Though he spent the rest of the day eating as well, he was generally more switched on after breakfast and it would be much more difficult to slip away and even more so to return unnoticed. Surprisingly, it hadn't been that hard to get hold of the potions after all – by subtly bribing two or three very clever fifth year Ravenclaws with a couple of galleons each, and egging them along with an encouraging wink from Sirius, the potions had been ready within an hour. Supplemented by a Confusing Concoction snagged from the store cupboard by Sirius, the potent mixture of a Babbling Beverage and a hastily mixed Befuddlement Draught would have the desired effect and more.

Sirius eyed the small vial worriedly, jiggling it about in the palm of his hand with a look of doubt. "Do you think we put enough in?" He frowned, before shoving the crystal vial deep within the recesses of his schoolbag. "Do you think it will work?" Ariana shrugged, catching hold of his sleeve and dragging Sirius away from the foot of the marble staircase in order to hide behind the statue of the Architect of Hogwarts. Quickly approaching footsteps echoed all around the Entrance Hall, as late students rushed to get their seats before breakfast began; Ari held her breath tensely for a moment, as they passed unknowingly.

"Should do-" she muttered lowly "Just enough for a good couple of hours of sheer unadulterated mayhem!" She cracked a grin, before sneaking a glance at James as he elbowed his way past seventh years, fourth years and even some tiny first years just to get to the bacon first. Remus glanced up and caught her eye, before scowling and looking away quickly. He was evidently in a bad mood.

Sirius nodded, taking it in, before smiling thoughtfully and passing her the vial "Here, you should do it…"

"No! It's your revenge prank – you have to do it, otherwise what's the point?" She protested quietly, shoving the vial back into his hands with some force. Sirius looked surprised.

"Well, if you do it, he'll never suspect you!"

"He wouldn't suspect me anyway – I'm way too nice!"

Sirius barked out a laugh and stowed the potion away up one of his sleeves. He cast a furtive glance around the Entrance Hall, checking there was nobody hidden away in the shadows. "You've got me there!" He agreed, before adding. "By the way, this idea? Genius! We'll make a Marauder of you yet…" He announced proudly, ruffling her hair obnoxiously before darting away into the Great Hall.

"Oh and Ari'?" Sirius's head popped back around the doorway "I wouldn't say you were _too _nice – you're too conniving for that to go down convincingly!" He winked at her, and dashed off into the Great Hall, roaring with laughter as Ariana raced after him, cursing heavily.

As they approached the Gryffindor table, Sirius veered towards James before tripping over his schoolbag and blundering into the table. A cry went up all around them, as students bemoaned the mess he had made. One girl's bowl of cornflakes landed straight in her lap and she cried out with shock. As Sirius righted James's goblet of Pumpkin Juice and graciously poured him some more, a shadow fell over the table. Professor McGonagall stood looming over the four friends, eyeing them with a mixture of suspicion and distaste. "Black," she barked out, frowning disapprovingly "What is going on here?"

Sirius grinned, unabashed "Nothing, Professor McGonagall. I just tripped over-"

"Enough," she interrupted calmly, letting her gaze swoop over the four students; two of which were desperately trying to avoid making eye contact, a third still engrossed in his breakfast and the fourth, staring dreamily off into the distance and seeming blissfully unaware of the tense situation, complete with sniggering pupils. "See that it doesn't happen again, or I will be forced to deduct points from all four of you." Watching her remark sink in, she turned back to the staff table, pointedly ignoring the exclamations of anger from the groups of students on both sides of Sirius.

Ariana sat pointedly avoiding eye contact with Sirius and contented herself with serving herself from the stack of sausages opposite, before counting down under her breath.

"In 5, 4, 3… 2 and…1!"

James seemed unbothered as both Sirius and Ariana eyed him suspiciously, before all emotion drained from his face without warning. They watched him earnestly, their eyes glinting as they held back smirks of barely contained laughter. His eyes slid out of focus slowly, then reverted back to normal consciousness for a second.

James' eyebrows quirked suddenly. "What have you two done to me?" He asked in a suddenly suspicious voice, before his eyes rapidly slid back into the out of focus state seemingly caused by the doubled effects of the Confusing Concoction mixed with the Befuddlement Draught.

Ari looked across the table at Sirius and winked. "Stage 1 is in effect." She stage-whispered, before adding, "The Babbling Beverage should start to kick in right about… now."

"Why are the chickens dancing?" James suddenly blurted out. "I can see them – right there! Look!" He jumped to his feet, sending the table lurching sideways again, but luckily no one noticed. "Maybe it's because of that dream? Yeah, that seems about right! It's always to do with those Cornish Pixies! We should ask Hagrid. He'll know what to do." His face twitched once more, as if he was no longer able to control himself. Suddenly, he swept his bag up off of the floor and waltzed out of the Great Hall without a moment's notice. Sirius snorted with laughter and hefted his own bag up onto his shoulder, before darting along after him. Ariana followed behind, eagerly awaiting more pearls of wisdom from the suitably bewildered James Potter. That would teach him!


End file.
